Sinne Eeg: Dreams

Danish vocalist Sinne Eeg has a mature, pliable voice that shows traces of singers like Peggy Lee and Sheila Jordan in its contours and sound. She is a long-established presence in her home country but Dreams is only her second album to be released in America. For the occasion she has put together a solid cast of veteran American musicians in guitarist Larry Koonse, bassist Scott Colley and drummer Joey Baron along with her countryman, pianist Jacob Christoffersen.

The CD is split between standards and Eeg's own compositions. Her "The Bitter End" starts off the disc with Eeg slinking through a soulful Nancy Wilson-like vocal over a low slung, slow funk groove laid down by Colley, Baron and Christoffersen. Other originals include "Head Over High Heels," a whirling waltz led by Koonse's springy guitar chords and "Love Song," a stately ballad she wrote for her husband with a liquid guitar line that blends beautifully with the melodic lilt of her voice.

On the title piece Eeg's wordless vocal is wedded to a gliding melody played by her quartet that sounds like Seventies' Pat Metheny while "Time To Go" is a folkish song led by piano with Eeg singing a simple, unaffected vocal that has the sad nuances of Karen Carpenter's sound. Her most moving original is "Aleppo," about the plight of children caught up in Syria's civil war, which is done with a sensitive vocal accompanied by the gentle pulse of of piano and guitar.

Eeg also shows her abilities in the well-worn standards she takes on. She takes a fun first chorus of "What Is This Thing Called Love" duetting with Joey Baron's crisp drumming before the rest of the band comes in and "Falling In Love" and "April" drift along on rich guitar textures while she sings with gorgeous sensitivity. She ends things in a bluesy duet with piano on Cole Porter's "Anything Goes" where she adds her own lyrics about our current age of so-called "fake news" and Russian influences.

Sinne Eeg is a fine singer with a strong voice that can be alternately sexy or sensitive. She has a real gift for carrying melody and projecting understated drama in her singing and she can write moving songs as well. Hopefully this CD will increase her profile in America.

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